The Toronto Blue Jays hope to put an all-around shocking day behind them when they get an early wake-up call for an afternoon contest against the host Oakland Athletics on Saturday.
The A’s won the series opener 2-1 on Friday, taking advantage of a team that not only had flown across the country the night before the game but then came to find out two key players would no longer be around this season.
On the same day that the club announced that career-long Blue Jay Cavan Biggio had been designated for assignment, Toronto’s players were informed that star pitcher Alek Manoah would have to undergo season-ending elbow surgery.
Toronto then went out and collected just five hits against four Oakland pitchers — including starter Hogan Harris, who entered the game with a 6.40 career ERA. The contest ended in a crushing fashion for the visitors as Oakland’s JJ Bleday hit the first pitch of the ninth inning for a walk-off home run against Chad Green.
“We’ll see how we land,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the loss of Manoah. “Ideally, you’d like (the rotation) to be pretty steady and kind of keep everybody in working order in the bullpen.”
In order for that to occur, Schneider added, the club likely would go with a bullpen game the next time Manoah’s spot comes up on the rotation. That would give prospect Yariel Rodriguez, currently pitching for Triple-A Buffalo, a chance to be guided toward that spot the next time around.
The move will have no bearing on who gets the Saturday start. Kevin Gausman (4-4, 4.60 ERA) will go as scheduled after seeing a six-start unbeaten streak end in a 7-2 home loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
The 33-year-old right-hander, who pitched across the San Francisco Bay for the Giants for two seasons, has made seven starts against the A’s in his career, going 1-3 with a 3.05 ERA.
Seeking to continue a run of great starting pitching for the A’s will be Luis Medina (0-0, 0.00). The 25-year-old right-hander threw 5 2/3 innings at Atlanta on Sunday in his season debut, allowing one run, which was unearned, on two hits. He struck out six and walked two.
Medina faced the Blue Jays twice as a rookie last season, allowing a total of seven runs (six earned) in 9 2/3 innings during 12-1 and 6-5 defeats. He was charged with one loss.
Medina will see a lineup without Biggio, who made a total of 34 starts for the Blue Jays this season at three positions. The guys who filled those spots Friday — right fielder George Springer, second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa and third baseman Ernie Clement — went a combined 1-for-10.
Biggio, 29, hit .200 with a .614 OPS, two homers and nine RBIs in 44 games this year.
On the other side of the field, the A’s appear to have solidified their middle infield with the recent strong play of Max Schuemann. The rookie shortstop manufactured Oakland’s first run on Friday when he singled to lead off the sixth inning, went first to third on an Abraham Toro single to center and raced home on a Chris Bassitt wild pitch.
He has started 27 of the Athletics’ past 28 games. After hitting .125 in April, he improved to .272 in May and is currently batting .350 in June.
“I do whatever the manager tells me to do,” Schuemann said of a season that has seen him bat in every spot from fifth to ninth, play six different defensive positions and serve as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. “You just want to make as many plays as possible.”
–Field Level Media
